Now that I am in my declining years, and my life is no longer dedicated to going to work every day to support my family, and now that my energy has become a slow walk rather than an energetic pace, I find contemplating in bed in the morning to be an excellent, even inspiring activity.

Lying there one recent morning I noticed that when I opened my eyes, I saw limitation everywhere. I saw the ceiling, the walls, and a stairway that required careful maneuvering. When I closed my eyes there was no limitation at all. My mind could take me anywhere. I could speed through space and stand by the sun toasting marshmallows on a stick without feeling any heat myself. Such reflects the limitless capabilities of the mind. It is well to know when one’s flights of fancy cannot be realized in the day to day world, but that is not to say that such imaginings have no purpose or place in one’s life. I would assume that people in dire circumstances, such as prison where their limitations were severe, would find no end of freedom in the fantasies possible to an imaginative mind.

When I was in the Navy, I was on a ship that transported gasoline to various ports in Japan and Korea in early 1946. It was the early days of the occupation and reorganization of Japan after World War ll. My duties were in the engine room. We had four huge 16-cylinder diesel engines that propelled the ship. Each engine required three floor levels for access to all its parts. Each of the 64 pistons in the engines was, as I recall, about seven inches in diameter. There were also two smaller eight cylinder engines that generated electrical power for the ship.

When we were underway at sea, with everything running, those engines, made a horrific noise. It was impossible for anyone to talk to anyone else in the engine room without shouting into their ear, while holding their ear closed with your finger so as to not deafen them. Every frequency of audible sound, from 40 to 18,000 cps, was produced in that bedlam. I could sit in the engine room at midnight while underway with all engines at full blast, and my ear could selectively pick out the frequencies I needed so that I could hear a large mixed chorus singing any song that suited my fancy. All I had to do was to concentrate on a song, and soon I could hear a large 100 voice angelic chorus singing it in harmony. What serenades I enjoyed on some of our voyages.

Sometimes a little imagination is all that’s needed to find solace in the unbearable. I never worried about my sanity. If I had started seeing the chorus members I might have become suspicious of my mental stability. I never asked my shipmates to enjoy the music with me. I assumed they would not understand. I expect one qualification was a degree of musical talent.

I sometimes wonder how selective any of us are in what we accept to hear or even understand as we seek to find our way and justify ourselves in the modern world. Probably more than many would realize. The human mind is truly beyond understanding, especially when it tries to understand itself. As we look out upon the world and witness the strange, both wonderful and horrific range of human thinking, and consider the wonderful and terrible conclusions various minds in our midst come up with, we do well to find an anchor of principle beyond our egos to guide us through the mists of being alive. Truth and consequences is more than just a TV game.

Yes, you can do or become whatever pleases you, if not in actuality, then in your imagination. But your imagination is only an impetus to get you started. If that’s as far as you go, you become a lost cause to yourself, and everyone else. May God bless America.

Richard Westlund is a Collins resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com